Starring: Zooey Deschanel, Jake Johnson, Max Greenfield, Lamorne Morris, Hannah Simone, Damon Wayans Jr., and Megan Fox
Grade: Classic
New Girl is a modern-day Friends. In terms of sitcom quality, this is the highest of compliments. Therefore, we have another “Classic” on our hands.
New Girl takes place in sunny Los Angeles and centers around happy-go-lucky schoolteacher Jessica “Jess” Day (Deschanel) who despite her trouble with men, always tries her best to keep an annoyingly positive attitude. One day, after showing up naked to her boyfriend Spencer’s house to surprise him, she walks in to find him cheating on her. Now, she has to find a new place to live. Searching Craigslist, she settles on a great deal on a loft with three thirtysomething bachelor guys, all with vastly different personalities, though she initially thought they were women based off of the advertisement. At first, they are unsure of accepting her as a roommate because of her goofiness, unfortunate ability to make anything awkward, and the fact that she’s going through a breakup, but they relent after bonding with her and trying to help her out on the dating scene.
It’s not just about this basic plot though. The show’s success is entirely dependent on the cast and the once-in-a-lifetime chemistry between them.
The show is centered around Jess, a protagonist built like a sitcom character that would be a supporting player in any other show (paraphrased from show creator Elizabeth Meriwether). Played by the “Queen of Quirky” Zooey Deschanel, Jess is a cutesy, lovable, and impressionable young woman that always looks for and assumes the best in people in a world that doesn’t always reciprocate that love. Weirdly enough, a lot of the criticism this show has gotten over the years was Jess being a little too much as the quirky star who can’t help but sing herself out of uncomfortable situations. I can understand why some can be turned off by the character’s personality at first glance. When you add in the earliest version of the theme song, you’re probably thinking, “What did I get myself into?”. However, Deschanel’s Jess is able to win us over because of how otherworldly her chemistry is with this cast of characters. She’s also able to ground the show as the center of all the trouble, with the crazy people around her having their own entertaining adventures at the same time. Her presence is crucial to the show’s success as we get deeper into the show and the characters. As much as we all love the constant scene-stealing hilarity of Jake Johnson’s Nick and Max Greenfield’s Schmidt, Jess is the reason the show works.
This may be a bit of a jump but look at Season Five.
In terms of the story, we see how important she is to the dynamic of the loft and how shit hits the fan so quickly without her presence, but it’s not even that. It’s Reagen, a very important recurring character in the final seasons played by world renown hottie Megan Fox. Though it gave us an interesting storyline to see how the other characters would react to an emotionally unavailable, strong-minded female character in Reagen, it also showed me one thing: Jess is VITAL to the success of New Girl. The show needs her bubbly personality to not only brighten the lives of the characters, but the show as well. Without her and Fox’s somewhat bland portrayal of Reagen, we are clamoring for Jess’s return. I wasn’t necessarily a superfan of her in the earlier seasons, but I definitely thought she earned her main character status despite how superior (at times) the supporting cast seemed to be. Even then, I didn’t truly appreciate her and understand her importance to the loft’s dynamic until she was gone, and Megan Fox was inserted to spice things up. Following this, I realized the show needed her back as soon as possible. She’s the glue that holds virtually everything together.
In my review of The Office, I noted how the show was able to survive without Michael Scott leaving because the characters were strong enough by the last two seasons to still be interesting and entertaining without him, despite him being the main character and main source of comedy up until that point. Here, we get a glimpse of life without Jess and a new, starkly different character in her place, and I didn’t react well. It didn’t fall off a cliff like That ’70s Show losing Eric Forman, but it went down a noticeable notch in quality without her. Even when rewatching the show several times over, you’ll start to notice how the show does drag a bit during the Reagen episodes, even with the entertainment value still being high. It’s not that the story is bad because we still got some funny Nick-related moments out of it, but we can’t help but feel the hole in Jess being gone. At the very least, we eagerly await some jury duty scenes, but her being gone completely until “Goosebumps Walkaway” felt like a gaping hole in the momentum of the series. She’s only gone for six episodes, but it feels like an eternity. Was it Megan Fox’s lack of emotion in the role? Was it how the character was written? I honestly couldn’t tell you, but one thing is for sure, she didn’t fit the vibe of the series.
Jess is needed for this world to work, and we don’t appreciate it until then.
Sure, her lack of maturity is notable and at times frustrating in the first few seasons, as well as her wishy-washy decision-making, but you have to understand that she’s a woman in her thirties that hasn’t figured things out yet. She’s going to struggle. It’s part of life. If she was more subdued or toned down, this show wouldn’t be New Girl. Everyone is toned up. If it went by the status quo, it would be like every other sitcom. Zooey Deschanel has said herself that she didn’t want the character to be too normal where she becomes the voice of reason that has to get the crazy guys she lives with out of bad situations. Though it still becomes that at different points of the show, her decision making, and general personality puts her in these situations just as much (The Landlord, Exes, Walk of Shame).
Another crucial character to New Girl‘s success is the ridiculously funny and proud working man from Chicago in Nick Miller (Johnson). Surprisingly enough, Nick was in law school in college, but despite getting as far as he did, he had a moment where he came to the realization that the lawyer life wasn’t for him. In doing so, he became a bartender. Though it’s an aimless job and his personality tends to match it at times, he’s much happier with this lifestyle, despite the constant criticisms from his friends. Additionally, he’s laid back, cheap, supremely stubborn, unwilling to talk openly about his feelings since he prefers the “manlier” approach of balling everything up, always struggling whether it be personally or professionally, refuses to admit he needs help on anything and will go to the depths to try to prove people wrong or to avoid admitting he’s wrong, and is probably one of my favorite television characters ever. I don’t know if it’s how funny Jake Johnson is as an actor (with his ability to improv certain character traits), if it’s just great writing, or a combination of both, but Nick Miller steals the show more often than not. Every time he reacts to something with his trademark turtle-faced response and widened eyes, I laugh every single time. Something about the character is so relatable and downright hysterical.
With Johnson’s delivery backing it, Nick turns what could be a basic male lead in a sitcom into an all-time character who’s not only hilarious but a great friend and unmatched romantic lead. Despite being total opposites in personality, Nick and Jess develop a close friendship deeper than all the others, as well as an on-again, off-again relationship that carries the show to new heights. As their friendship blossoms, it becomes a focal point of the series, and it never gets old. Nick may not be the model man that females notice off the bat, but he’s got a personality so infectious, you see why he’s a catch. He’s a character so down to Earth but unconfident despite his likability, that he himself doesn’t realize how awesome he truly is. In moments where he has to be told it, you realize how innocent he is and how he’s a good dude that deserves good coming to him (Landing Gear). It’s like he’s dealt with so much bad luck and shitty situations over the years, it’s hard for him to accept something positive happening to him.
The Nick/Jess relationship is as pure as they come. From when they first get together, the shock of the first move, the aftermath, and all of the other pitfalls of a sitcom relationship, you love these two and want them to be together forever even when they have entertaining relationships with other random guest stars from time to time. Though they manage to make things work with others, you know in your heart that they have to be together for the show to succeed. They’re meant to be.
One of the defining moments of the series was during the last stage of Jess’s relationship with Sam (David Walton) in “Wedding Eve“. After a mix-up where she thought he was proposing and wasn’t feeling it, but it turns out he wanted to break up with her, they decide to amicably split. As Jess walks him to the elevator, Sam wonders why she wouldn’t want to marry him hypothetically. She feigns innocence, but he concludes she knows the real reason. In dramatic, cinematic fashion, Sam tells her what we all know she’s tried to ignore. As the elevator door closes, he smiles and says, “It’s Nick”. You get goosebumps just thinking about it. That’s how involved you get with these two and how badly you want them to end up together. Through all the misadventures that happen in this series and all of the romantic partnerships that happen, you hope and pray Nick and Jess find a way back to each other. In a sea of sitcom relationships, it’s hard to keep your audience interested in the main stars getting together from start to finish because you have to involve the numerous times where they have to separate to keep the show going. Somehow, New Girl succeeds in more ways than one on this front. Not only do they succeed with Nick and Jess, but they do it just as well with Schmidt (Greenfield) and Cece (Simone). This is when you realize you have an all-time “TV show relationship” on your hands (arguably two).
There’s Jim and Pam, Ross and Rachel, Eric and Donna, etc.
However, Nick and Jess might be right up there near the top of the list. Schmidt and Cece are up there as well.
Not to be upstaged, is the uptight wannabe, successful, womanizing, ladies’ man, neat freak, snobby, in-shape workaholic that is Schmidt. He’s easily the best-written character on the show and though it takes a little for the other characters to find their footing or their role in New Girl, Schmidt is unapologetically Schmidt from “Day 1”. There was a clear vision for this character from the jump, and Max Greenfield, as Schmidt would say, “crushed it”. Schmidt is the complete opposite of Nick in every sense of the way. However, despite their clear differences in personality and completely different philosophies on life, they have been best friends since they lived together in college (back when Schmidt used to be fat). Due to his past as an obese person and years of bullying coming from it, he’s incredibly insecure and obsessed with his image and status. Now that Schmidt is successful as an adult, he craves to be the alpha male of the group but is too easily frustrated by Nick’s stubbornness, Winston’s (Morris) early “voice of reason” beginnings and later weirdness, Coach’s (Wayans Jr.) actual alpha male status, and Jess’s refusal to buy into Schmidt’s douchebag approach to life. Schmidt’s douchebaggery knows no bounds too, with one of the best recurring jokes revolving around him being the “douchebag jar”, a jar he has to put money into when he says or does something obnoxious.
With a show full of recurring jokes and gags (Nick’s inability to tell a lie, Winston’s inability to solve puzzles, Nick’s moonwalking out of awkward situations, Schmidt’s mispronunciation of words and irrational anger, etc.), the “douchebag jar” is one of the many that will live in infamy.
Max Greenfield’s delivery in this show is second to none. With the way he says a joke in his uptight, overdramatic, energy-fueled style, you can make the argument that Schmidt is the funniest character in New Girl. It’s not just about the humor though. Schmidt is a very well-rounded character and is responsible for the most emotionally charged moments in the entire show. It’s honestly incredible how they are able to turn such an unlikable character on paper into such a beloved one, but we see him learn and grow as a person throughout the series more than anyone, including Jess. From being a despicable bachelor to a loving husband and family man, it’s awesome watching what he becomes. Schmidt might be the only character I’ve ever seen that is able to cheat willingly and still be able to justify it to the point where you feel for him and believe it when he says he didn’t want to hurt anyone. I legitimately felt for the character when he was stuck in his unwinnable love triangle with his first love in Elizabeth (Merritt Wever) and his new love in Cece. Eventually, he decides to secretly date both of them because he can’t choose, yielding disastrous results in the wonderfully written three-episode arc to begin Season Three in “All In“, “Nerd“, and “Double Date“. Even though he brought it upon himself and deserved what was coming, we still totally understand his plight and want him to win.
This is the power of Schmidt.
He’s not a nice person, and he has every quality of a roommate you would hate to live with but for some reason, we can’t imagine this show without him. He’s essential to the humor, the storylines, and the development of each character around him. This couldn’t be truer than with Cece, Jess’s childhood best friend, successful model, and later, directionless adult. She doesn’t live with the core in the loft but visits frequently to give Jess advice (as they are both very protective of each other) and to react to the overall weirdness of the men that live with her. Gradually, she moves away from being the “too cool” outsider and gets closer to the friend group after being around them so much, becoming an unofficial member of the loft. Early on, Cece keeps her guard up and tries to be cool more often than not to offset Jess’s outright quirkiness and refusal to care what others think of her personality. Essentially, she’s Jess’s opposite, just as Schmidt is to Nick. However, she reveals herself to be a very caring individual and likable personality once she’s brought down to Earth by the outrageousness of the others. This is partly because of her attraction to Schmidt that she wishes she didn’t have. She has a pretty good judge of character too, even being the first person to note Nick may have a crush on Jess (Cece Crashes). The real treat of the series however is what becomes of her and Schmidt. Being the bombshell she is, Schmidt makes it an early goal to pursue her. The initial teasing of it is great (Cece Crashes, Thanksgiving) and midway through the first season, they start having casual sex. This begins their on-again, off-again relationship before Nick and Jess even start up, and the up and down emotions that come with it are a major positive in the first half of the series. In fact, you can argue a lot of the best episodes of the series revolve around the back-and-forth between these two wildly different people and their undeniable attraction to each other, as well as their subsequent failures in trying to have a relationship.
Then, there’s the aggressive alpha-male Coach, who takes a while to reveal his sweeter, shier side. The thing is, Coach is only there for the pilot episode in the first season because in real life, Wayans Jr. had commitments to Happy Endings. They wrote him out in the second episode and reintegrated him in the third season. What I love about Coach’s inclusion in the show was how well he fit with the main cast. They could’ve ignored his casting and gave the role to Lamorne Morris since Wayans Jr. left after the pilot episode, but they wrote him off in a realistic way and made an entirely new character for Morris to play. This allowed for Wayans Jr. to make an eventual return, and he was reinserted into the cast with ease. By the time Season Three came by, the character’s presence was needed in the loft. Story-wise, they were all fighting over Nick at the time, and they needed a new voice to help out since Jess and Nick were deeper into their relationship. Because of Coach’s return, more storylines and possibilities were added in an instant just as the show could’ve started to feel like it was in danger of going in circles (which it could’ve very easily did without a new character being involved).
The amazing part about it is how it didn’t feel forced. This was not a situation where the show was falling apart, so they decided to shoehorn in a new character to save the show, a constant problem with long-running sitcoms. They took a leap, re-added a character despite the proven chemistry of the core, and wrote him back in seamlessly like he never left. It was a risky move considering how much success they had with the core because if it didn’t work, it could’ve been detrimental to the show’s trajectory, as it took place directly in the middle of the series. The move was a turning point that could make or break them, but it paid off. In fact, when he left the main cast again at the end of Season Four, we are actually saddened by the loss. Though they do get credit for ending his arc in such a satisfactory manner, he fit this cast like a glove, and it was hard to see him go a second time after reintegrating himself in their lives for such a short but memorable period in the sitcom. Damon Wayans Jr.’s performance was an underrated part of the series. He never outshined or took away from the other characters either. He made his mark without taking away from them but also became a big part of the friend group. This is difficult to do when joining so late in the game, but he manages to do it. In later seasons, when he would make random appearances, I felt like the rest of the loft friends when they would all excitedly yell “Coach!” when they saw him.
Damn it…I miss him.
It may have been hard to continuously give him a big role in later seasons, so I guess I can accept how well they wrote him out and gave the character a happy ending (pun-intended). As a fan though, I wish he would’ve stayed on, or at least had a bigger role in the final season or series finale.
The real “third” roommate is the wildly entertaining Winston Bishop, AKA Winnie The Bish, who joins the loft in the second episode “Kryptonite“. He’s a childhood friend of Nick. Once he loses his spot playing professional basketball in Latvia, he moves in just as Coach leaves to live with his new girlfriend and isn’t heard from until Season Three. As I mentioned before, Winston begins the earlier seasons as the “voice of reason” type of character, but something changes after the incident with the badger in “Elaine’s Big Day” at the end of Season Two. This is where we really start to see the writers play with the eccentricities of Winston, and Lamorne Morris’s comedic ability starts to really show through, though we do get a small tease of his oddness in “Re-Launch“. Gradually, Winston turns into the weirdest character on the show, and I mean this in a positive sense. For fans of the series, you know what I’m talking about. If you watch the second episode of the series, and the last episode of the series, you can’t believe the evolution of this second-tier character.
He starts out as the confident, smart friend of the group into the cat-loving (RIP Furguson), unconfident, unhinged, bird-shirt wearing, good-hearted romantic. He also goes way too big (or way too small) on pranks. The self-proclaimed “Prank Sinatra” never being able to find the balance between the two is an ongoing joke in the show that never gets old, and it’s carried all the way through to the series finale. I also loved how close the side friendship of Winston and Cece becomes because of how far apart they seem on paper. Anytime we get a “classic Cece and Winston Mess-Around”, we’re on board. I do wish they explored their friendship much earlier just so we got more of it, but I’m still happy with the end result. Once we see him grow into a cop and move into a relationship with his partner Aly (Nasim Pedrad), and is given more purpose as a result, the show flourishes in every aspect. I never would’ve even thought to match up Lamorne Morris and Nasim Pedrad, but they became just as lovable of a couple as the others.
As I said before, the chemistry is flawless between each member of the cast. You can pair up any of the two random characters in the main cast and get a wonderfully weird adventure with ease, giving us loads of possibilities for every episode depending on who is teamed up together.
- Jess and Nick: Something awkwardly hilarious will happen.
- Nick and Schmidt: you know Nick is doing something to piss off Schmidt whether it be intentional or unintentional.
- Schmidt and Jess: Schmidt is giving unwanted advice to Jess who refuses to listen or does and ends up in a worse situation than she starts out.
- Cece and Schmidt: There will be loads of amusing innuendo, and it may or may not lead to sex.
- Jess and Cece: By the end of their “mess around”, one or the other will end up apologizing to the other about fucking something up.
- Winston and Cece: They’re either aiding someone, pranking someone, or Cece has to help Winston with something weird and for some reason, she understands.
- Schmidt and Winston: Schmidt’s overbearingness no matter what the situation is will frustrate Winston to very funny results.
With his season-and-a-half on the show, Coach has moments with each character as well, and it stays just as entertaining. Admittedly, Nick and Cece are explored the least, but the fact they never truly vibe with each other is another in-joke they don’t shy away from. My point here is that the show explores every opportunity for these characters and exhausts all options to keep the show fresh, thrilling, and funny. At the same time, they create new layers for each character almost every episode while giving us storylines that progress the ongoing narrative in a logical and exciting way. By the time the show comes to an end, you realize how well it was all handled and how it ended at the right time.
Another huge positive of the show are all the recurring characters and how impactful they are to the series. I can’t think of one side character that isn’t looked back upon fondly. There’s the silent confidant of Nick’s that was Tran (Ralph Ahn), Tran’s daughter Kai (Greta Lee) who Nick ends up dating, the homeless Outside Dave (Steve Agee) who’s filled with ridiculous statements at all times, the subtle Robby (Nelson Franklin) who manages to date Cece and even Jess eventually, Cece’s odd Russian roommate and fellow model Nadia (Rebecca Reid), the man whose life is turned upside down because of Jess in Sam, Nick’s crazy ex-girlfriend in Caroline (Mary Elizabeth Ellis), awkward teacher Paul Genzlinger (Justin Long), smooth divorcee Russell (Dermot Mulroney), Jess’s parents Bob (Rob Reiner) and Joan (Jamie Lee Curtis), councilwoman Fawn Moscato (every episode involving Zoe Lister-Jones in all her glory is hysterical), and so many more. All of the exes of our main cast play vital roles in the development of each character’s progression too, as we see them grow and evolve with each coming season. I even loved all of Schmidt’s co-workers being women and how they’re all out to get him. Honestly, every moment he has at Associated Strategies is laugh-inducing.
Nobody felt like a one-note guest spot, despite this being a common trait for most sitcoms. This is where New Girl sets itself apart from everyone. Even Prince’s guest spot in the episode “Prince” played an important role in Nick and Jess’s relationship. After you watch the show, you can take an honest look at each ex and see how they helped shape the mindset of Jess, Nick, Schmidt, Winston, and to a lesser extent, Cece, once the show comes to an end.
As a New Girl fan, I have to dedicate at least one paragraph to “True American”, the iconic drinking game the loft mates play. If you take nothing else from this show, we can at least agree that “True American” is an all-time drinking game that we will forever wish to know how it’s played. The only things we truly know about it is that it’s a 50% drinking game and 50% life-size Candy Land played by Jess and the crew, with the details revolving around presidents of the United States and trivia regarding it. At the same time, it’s combined with the childhood game of “the floor is hot lava”. Though people have tried to explain this awesome game online through fan sites and such, no one really knows how to play the game for real because the writers changed things in each episode that featured it to make it seem crazier and crazier. It’s mayhem and legitimately seems like the best drinking game ever created. When we hear “JFK! FDR!”, and the shotgun tipoff follows, we know we are in for a good episode. In fact, a lot of the best episodes of the show revolve around the game.
Speaking of which…
There are so many laugh-out-loud scenes, tear-jerking moments, and show-defining episodes that will always be remembered by New Girl fans. This includes the first kiss (one of my favorite TV moments ever) between Jess and Nick (Cooler), the immediate aftermath of the kiss (Table 34), the aforementioned Schmidt/Cece/Elizabeth arc, pretty much all of the Thanksgiving and Christmas episodes, Jess’s first relationship falling apart (The 23rd), Nick and Jess almost being forced to have a threesome (The Landlord), the disaster that leads to the first Cece/Schmidt hookup (Valentine’s Day), any episode involving “True American” (Normal, Mars Landing (with the hangover resulting in a Nick/Jess breakup), or Wedding Eve), Nick thinking one of Jess’s creative writing students is a killer (Pepperwood), Schmidt and Nick throwing a party to celebrate their anniversary of living together (TinFinity), and there’s also the hysterical disaster that was Cece’s wedding (Elaine’s Big Day).
In addition, there is Nick giving Jess the perfect surprise birthday party but almost ruining it beforehand (Birthday), Schmidt getting sued and hiring Nick to represent him (Fired Up), Winston’s superior searching his apartment (Background Check), Cece considering getting a breast reduction surgery to Schmidt’s dismay (Goldmine), the teachers workshop that gets out of hand quickly (Teachers), Coach’s exit that also ends with one of the best moments in the show with Schmidt and Cece reuniting (Clean Break), the best episode with Reagen (Heat Wave), Nick and Sam ruining Jess trying to buy a car (Jeff Day), Schmidt having one of the best TV wedding episodes ever (Landing Gear), Winston’s proposal (Operation: Bobcat), and of course, the legendary Season Six finale (Five Stars for Beezus). This was an episode so well done, they could’ve ended it here, and we would’ve been happy knowing how the show ended. It was emotional, it had the goosebumps, it tied up all the storylines involving our main characters, and it was exactly what we wanted as fans.
Despite how well it was handled, we were still given a final Seventh Season to show us what happened to all the characters three years later. They didn’t need to, but they did it for us. Because of this, I’m grateful. For the record, every episode of Season Seven is essential. We are even introduced to Ruth, the first child of Cece and Schmidt. Usually, a child would be the nail in the coffin for a sitcom, but it was again handled impressively well. They could’ve tried to stretch out Schmidt and Cece’s marriage story as much as possible to keep the show’s format intact, but the writers did everything they could between the two. If they stretched it out any longer, it was in danger of becoming a retread. The next logical step for the couple was to have a child. We all know Schmidt wouldn’t want to wait! Even so, the entertainment value stayed at an all-time high, which is unheard of when a child is inserted into the narrative.
The final season was kind of unprecedented too. To my knowledge, I don’t know a single other show whose entire final season was a shortened glimpse into the future in the way New Girl did it. A big part of hitting the “Classic” tier of television shows is being able to tie up all loose ends regarding the characters in the most satisfying ways possible. Do the characters we want to see together, end up together? Have the characters evolved into better people or personalities worth remembering? Have they had an effect on each other’s lives? How will their future turn out? Do they all get endings worthy of their trajectories? Well, the finale season does exactly that for us, still showing gradually how everyone’s lives turned out and where they will go in the future. With this eight-episode sendoff, we are able to say “goodbye” in a spread-out way that gives us time to grieve with the show coming to an end. As we know, many of us get sad when our favorite shows come to an end. It’s as if we are friends with these people for however many years that we watch the show. When it’s over, you feel as if it happened too fast. It’s hard to come to terms with it.
This final season is done so well because it gives us the time that we need to say goodbye. When we get to the near perfect series finale in “Engram Pattersky“, we’re ready to move on just as the characters come to terms with doing the same. The cherry on top was the final game of “True American” as the characters help Nick and Jess pack up the loft for the final time. In a small, emotionally-charged flash forwarded sequence, we even get a small look at what becomes of our main characters years down the line. We see them all playing a kid version of “True American” with their families, as they shout the rules and play together. Jumping back to the present time, they finish their final game in the loft, and decide they’re ready to go.
Honestly, it may very well bring a tear to your eye.
Getting to know these characters over the years has been an absolute joy. The acting is top notch, the stories are written so well that it could live on for generations without feeling dated, and it’s arguably one of the funniest shows I’ve ever seen through and through. It doesn’t need a laugh track to bring you to the floor in tears.
New Girl is known for its oddball humor and the highlighted eccentricities of each member of the main cast as you get to know them more and more with each passing episode. It shows us that no matter how normal people may seem when you first meet them, everyone has their own quirks and lovable “weirdness” about them. If you’re able to get past it, you may find your best friend or even soulmate. This is the heart of New Girl and why it’s deserving of such a high rating.
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